It often seems the case that when we think of the Great Shaykh Abdul Qadir GIlani (ra) we think of some great mystic sufi saint.

The truth is that his great work is often missed…it was his students who were preaching tawhid on the battlefield and it was they that ALLAH(SWT) bestowed with the honour of giving the first khutbah after Salahuddin Ayyoubi (ra) retook Al Aqsa.

I went to my “homeland”, Pakistan for a couple of weeks. I felt at home. I could settle here I thought. The beautiful mountains of Kashmir were revitalising whenever I would go for a trek after a Fajr. I did not want to leave. Nevertheless, I also wanted to come back to my other country, England. I was born here, bred here, and hence had a sentimental attachment to the people and area of my residence.

And without a doubt, there are many good people here, with good manners and ethics, something which sadly a lot of Muslims lack. A friend and colleague at work became a Muslim when I spoke of the mannerisms in Islam and how he was reflective of them. Others here also admire Islam for its uprightedness. In other words, not all people are haters, xenophobes and psuedo-neo-crusaders.

The evergreen ever-eloquent Shaykh Deedat (May Allah have Mercy on him) answers the argument that women covering is an oppression against them. Sarkozy, Saira Khan, Quilliam Foundation and all other modernists and secularists, take note…

Epistemology of the “Men Control Women” argument and Diversionary Tactics

The argument that covering is a tool for men to control women is archaic. It is rooted in the mechanisms which British colonialists employed in controlling Muslim communities and justify invading their land and eventually their resources on the premise that they were “backward”. (see, Liela Ahmed, Women and Gender in Islam: Historical Roots of a Modern Debate, (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1992)). The targeting of the veil continued unabated in the West with obvious epistemological bias. Crawford in 1863 wrote, “Short of Christianity, no teaching can elevate the character and position of Mohammedan women in any land; for, as long as she accepts the Koran as a rule of faith, she will unhesitatingly acquiesce in the mutilated life to which she is condemned.” (Mabel Sharman Crawford, Through Algeria, [1863], quoted in J. Mabro, (ed.), Veiled Half-Truths: Western Travellers’ Perceptions of Middle Eastern Women (London: I. B. Tauris, 1991) 182)

One questions as to whether such pathetic cries necessitate a rejoinder. The same old rehashed over drawn arguments are ranted, without an ounce of academic or intellectual veracity. Wild claims without evidence are promulgated. The article is nothing but unsubstantiated claims and views which have no significance other than the fact they belong to sad person who has joined the “attack Islam” bandwagon along with other personalities such as Ed Hussain and his pet Majid Nawaz in order to cash in on the “bash Islam” boom. A lucrative market for the business minded. Women who choose to wear the Jilbab and/or Niqab will wear them despite fools such as Saira Khan creating a public stir and jeopardising their security – a real threat to freedom.